Eva Franco on the Design Process

Posted on Feb 15, 2012

Eva Franco on the Design Process from Eva Franco on Vimeo.

Seen in Style

Posted on Jan 20, 2012

Cheers to Health

Posted on Jan 04, 2012

I’d like to welcome a guest blogger, personal trainer Danny Bergen. He’s here to share some great tips on how to start out the New Year healthy!
Eva

Well, here we are ... the end of yet another year. As the holidays come and go, many of you will be putting your New Year’s resolutions into action. You’ll be hitting the gym (or even joining one for the first time) with a renewed sense of fervor ... an absolute determination to better yourself, to lose weight, to feel better.

So, as your friendly neighborhood Personal Trainer, I thought I would list a few fitness tips that may help you along on your journey to better health and a greater well being.

Have a happy and healthy new year!

—————————————————————————————-

10 Easy Tips to Improve your Health and Fitness

1. Be a smart consumer and read labels carefully.
Fat free products are loaded with sugar. Fat does not make you fat – SUGAR DOES! When grocery shopping, buy nothing with over 9 grams of sugar.

2. No overcomplicated routines/no overcomplicated diets.
They have the highest failure rate because they don’t teach you how to live in the real world. Get back to the basic, common sense principles.

3. Never skip meals.
Obese (and even overweight) people have one thing in common – skipping meals. The moment you allow your blood sugar to drop (when you feel hunger pangs) you become a fat storing machine. You must eat small meals or snacks every few hours.

4 . Sugar is bad.
We all know this, but we don’t realize just how bad it truly is. Sugar throws our body into an immune suppressed, non-working state of chronic fatigue, depression, and hormonal imbalance. It is the leading cause of disease and depression in this country. To break the sugar addiction, get rid of refined sugar (anything that isn’t fruit or veggies).

5. Clean House - Remove ALL junk from your kitchen.
Stop buying addictive junk foods, then hating yourself for not being able to resist.

6. Deprivation does not work.
When starting a diet, for the first two weeks add healthy, nutrient filled foods (low sugar fruit/veggies/lean protein and a multivitamin). Your body will begin to naturally reject sugars and processed foods.

7. Crunches are a waste of time.
Unfortunately, we cannot ‘spot burn’ fat - meaning we can’t choose specific areas of our bodies that we’d like to burn the fat from.  Crunches are inefficient in burning calories, and can also lean to injury if done incorrectly.  The way to get those lean abs is to be focused on eating as naturally and healthy as possible, and to exercise in a way that increases your metabolism.

8.Drink water.
Sounds easy enough, right? We are all made mostly of water, and drinking it is the most important thing we can all do for our own health and well being. Drinking water has a host of benefits: including aiding in cell functions, lubricates and cushions our joints, eyes, spinal cord, and vital organs.  It promotes healthy waste elimination, keeps our skin clear, detoxifies our system, etc. Generally, the minimum amount of water we should be drinking is about half our body weight (in ounces). So, if you weight 160 pounds, then take half that (80) and drink 80 oz. of water per day minimum (that would be eight 10 oz. glasses, or ten 8oz glasses).  Remember, drink even when you’re not thirsty. If you’re thirsty, then you’re already slightly dehydrated.

9. Eat natural foods.
Only buy foods whose ingredients you can pronounce. If you have trouble saying it, then it’s not a real food and should be placed back on the shelf.  Many processed foods have increased amounts of chemical additives that can increase your cravings for sugars, salts, etc. 

10. Don’t be afraid to lift weights.
Cardio is the slowest and least efficient way to lose weight. It’s all about resistance training. This will burn more calories faster, and also add much needed muscle to speed up your metabolism. Working out the body’s bigger muscle groups (like the chest, back, gluteus, and legs) will more efficiently include using the smaller muscle groups, and make for more efficient, and time saving workouts.

To find out more about how you can reach your own personal fitness goals, contact me at Danny Bergen Fitness and ask about my Special New Years Package.

Happy 2012!

Posted on Jan 01, 2012

‘Tis the Season!

Posted on Dec 06, 2011

As our calendars fill with holiday parties and glamorous occasions that call for us to look our finest, it seems the perfect time to share some of the inspiration behind our holiday collection. The dresses are very much inspired by the period between the 1900s and the early 1920s. Think of the artwork of Toulouse-Lautrec, of cabaret dancers and romantic French boudoirs…think luxury, glamour, with a hint of sexy Moulin Rouge.

The color palette incorporates the dusty pinks of vintage lingerie, champagne-bubble polka dots, beautiful coppery tones and metallics, and a jewel-toned fuchsia. The lace was inspired by a beauty mark. Velvets add a rich texture that’s always right for the holidays.

We had everything on our Christmas list; we wanted dresses for girls looking to be sexy and for those looking to be sweet. (In Santa lingo, that’s naughty or nice.) So there are bows, but there are plunging necklines as well. There are see-through nettings and laces, but the silhouettes are fit-and-flare and always flattering. We want you to feel comfortable as well as beautiful! A couple of my favorite designs are the Eliza Dress with kitten lace (meow) and the Claudette Dress with the twirly pleated skirt and faux leather bodice.

Cheers to you all! Thank you for a wonderful year, and may you dress in holiday style all year long.